Dusting apparatus



JanQ 15, 1935. J. D. ALTHOUSE ET AL 1,987,656

DUSTING APPARATUS Filed March 24, 1933 lNVENTORS c/ZL. Cart e1" 6 QLZIAZUQOLLSQ Y Q 2 ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 15, 1935 PATENT OFFICE nvs'rmo armaa'rcs Jesse D. Althouse and Joseph L. Carter, Porterville, Calif.

Application March 24, 1933, Serial No. 662,493

This invention relates to a machine for dusting vines and trees with chemical dust and which includes a power driven fan into the intake of which the powdered dust is fedand from which a forceful'current of air and dust mixture is discharged.

Heretoforethe standard form of centrifugal fan has been used, the casing having a single spiral or eccentric outlet passage therefrom. If it is desired to have a. pair of discharge nozzles or sprays connected to the one passage this is accomplished by providing a Y-branched passage leading from said outlet. With such arrangement considerable friction is developed in the branched passages and the air is churned about in the fan casing to a considerable degree with a consequent loss of efiiciency. Also the fan must be operated at a relatively high speed.

The principal object of our invention is'to increase the efficiency of such fans by constructing the fan casing so that it has plural separate and opposed spiral or eccentric outlet passages. In this manner there are plural discharges of air for each revolution of the fan rotor, the efiiciency of the fan is greater, and a greater volume of discharging air is obtained with a relatively slow speed of the rotor. In other words, the loss due to slip is greatly lessened. At the same time no more dust is used than is at present necessary but it is distributed throughout a greater volume of air. There is-thus no spotting and burning of the foliage etc. such as is now occasionally had and the heavy volume of air, relatively unretarded by any frictional losses as it issues from the fan,-pen'etrateswell inside of the foliage area and adds materially to the effectiveness of the dusting operation.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of our improved fan as mounted on a vehicle adapted to travel between rows of vines or trees.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

' Fig. 3 is a rear end view.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawing, our improved fan is mounted on a self-propelled chassis 1 of suitable character. rotor 2 of any desired typewhich is disposed in a casing 3 having an axially and forwardly projecting intake passage 4 as usual. The dust hopper 5 is disposed above the intake and has a bottom outlet discharging into the same. The axial shaft 6 of the rotor extends lengthwise of the vehicle and projects forwardly from the fan casing and intake, being directly connected at its The fan comprises a vaned forward end to a power plant such as a gas engine "I mounted on the chassis.

The important and novel feature of construe tion of the fan is the provision of eccentric or spirally disposed air discharge passages 8 formed about the periphery of the casing. These passages extend only half way about the casing in diametrically opposed relation to each other. The casing is set on the chassis so that the outer ends of these passages terminate at such levels relative to a horizontal plane that the rear ends of the relatively extending and symmetrical elbow members 9 connected to the outer ends of the passages, will lie in a common horizontal plane and in transversely spaced relation.

The outlet nozzles 10 are preferably of narrow rectangular form at their mouths and are set vertically, being connected to the elbows by suitable passage members 9a. Said nozzles are rigidly mounted on the chassis in rearwardly facing relation thereto and in transversely spaced relation.

Dampers 11 are disposed in the outlet passages as close to the fan casing as possible and are individually controlled from the driver's seat of the vehicle by suitable connections as indicated at 12. so as to enable either outlet to be closed at the will of the operator and as conditions may require. Deflector plates 13 are hinged along "the vertical adjacent edges of the nozzles and project rearwardly therefrom. Normally these plates are parallel to each other and to the line of travel of the vehicle but may be'independently adjusted so that the discharge from the nozzles is deflected laterally and in diverging relation by suitable operating means, as at 14, controlled from points convenient to the operator.

From the above construction it will be seen that the air is discharged from the fan after making only a half turn therein, which is ample to insure proper mixing of the dust with the air and the setting up of a considerable velocity of the air current. The combined volume of air discharged from both outlets is nearly double that discharging from one only, as we have determined by closing one of the dampers. When this is done the fan driving engine practically races while the volume of air issuing from the remaining open outlet is but little greater than that issuing from either outlet when both are freely open. v

Due to the plural discharge means disclosed the power and capacity of the cluster is so augmented as to render the apparatus especially effective in citrus dusting where the foliage is thicker and closer than in most other vines or trees and hence more difiicult to effectively cover with the dust.

We claim-- In a portable dusting apparatus a. pair of transversely spaced dust-discharging nozzles mounted at the rear end of the apparatus and facing rearwardly, said nozzles at their mouth being of oblongform with their major axes dis posed vertically, and vertical rearwardly projecting deflectors hinged for swivel movement in a horizontal direction on the adjacent sides of the nozzle mouths and extending the full height thereof.

JESSE D. ALTHOUSE.

JOSEPH L. CARTER. 

